Missouri State Bears (16-6) at Kansas Jayhawks (15-9)
Date/First Pitch:	Tuesday, March 27  |  6:05 p.m.
Site:	Hoglund Ballpark (2,500)  |  Lawrence, Kan.
Watch:	ESPN3
Radio:	KBFL 1060 AM/96.9 FM
Follow:	Live Stats  |  @MSUBearBaseball
Game Notes:	Missouri State  |  Kansas
Series History:	MSU leads 30-27  (12-16 in Lawrence)

PRIME 9

• Missouri State is riding a season-best five-game win streak and has claimed nine of its last 10 games overall, out-scoring the opposition by a 66-31 margin over the same span
• The Bears have won nine of their last 12 games against Kansas and hold a 30-27 all-time advantage in the series; MSU is just 12-16 vs. the Jayhawks in Lawrence, but has won six of its last eight overall games at Hoglund Ballpark
• MSU has posted an 85-33 (.720) regular-season non-conference mark over the last four seasons and has gone 56-32 in true road games over the same stretch
• MSU leads the Valley in team earned run average (3.12), opponent batting (.228), fewest earned runs allowed (68) and fielding percentage (.977); Individually, Dylan Coleman paces the circuit in strikeouts (50), while Drew Millas ranks third in RBIs (26) and Eierman rates third in both runs scored (24) and home runs (5) 
• Ben Whetstone has reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in each of the Bears' 22 contests this season; the sophomore first baseman has also been solid in games following a Missouri State defeat, hitting .409 with all four of his home runs and seven RBIs in such outings to help the Bears go 6-0 after a loss 
• Preseason All-American Jeremy Eierman rebounded from a sluggish start to hit .455 (20-for-44) with three homers, 16 runs scored and six steals over the course of his recently-completed 11-game hit streak (March 3-20)    
• Eierman homered twice and drove in a career-best seven runs in Sunday's 8-2 win over CSUN, climbing to ninth on the Bears' all-time home runs list with the 36th and 37th round-trippers of his career; he trails Ben Carlson in the No. 8 spot by one home run
• Head coach Keith Guttin moved past former San Diego State bench boss Jim Dietz (1,230) for sole possession of the No. 22 spot on the NCAA's all-time Division I coaching victories list with MSU's win over SEMO last Tuesday;      
• Missouri State has 68 combined come-from-behind victories over the last three-plus seasons, including nine through its first 22 contests of the 2018 campaign 

LEADING OFF
Riding a season-best five-game win streak, the Missouri State Bears will travel to Lawrence for a non-conference tilt against the Kansas Jayhawks Tuesday (March 27) evening. The Bears and Jayhawks will open their annual home-and-home series with a 6 p.m. contest at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Bears (16-6) are coming off a perfect 5-0 home stand, including a three-game sweep of CSUN this past weekend. MSU's pitching limited the Matadors to three earned runs in the series to run their home win streak to seven straight games.

Kansas (15-9) is coming off a 3-5 road trip that included a Big 12 Conference series win at Baylor over the weekend. The Jayhawks have been strong at Hoglund Ballpark this season, bringing a nine-game home win streak and a 12-2 home mark into Tuesday's contest.

SERIES HISTORY
Missouri State enters Tuesday's matchup having claimed nine of the last 12 meetings in the series. The Bears hold a 30-27 overall edge in the series, but have gone just 12-16 against KU in Lawrence. 

KU notched its first season sweep of the Bears in seven years last spring, claiming a 4-2 win in Springfield (April 4), before outlasting MSU by in an 8-5 game in Lawrence (May 2). MSU has gone 54-67 all-time against the current membership of the Big 12 Conference, incluging an 0-2 start to this season with a pair of losses to Oklahoma State.

SHUTDOWN STAFF
MSU pitching has locked into high gear over the last 12 games, posting a 2.75 team ERA and winning 10 of those outings. In all, nine different Bears hurlers have logged sub-3.00 ERA's over the same span, while the staff as a whole has limited the opposition to a .204 batting mark. 

A pair of freshmen have led the charge with Ty Buckner going 2-1 with a 2.06 ERA and Connor Sechler logging 7.2 scoreless innings over which he has fanned 13 batters without issuing a walk to go 2-0 with a save. The Bears have given up an average of 3.3 runs per outing and have yielded 10 or more hits just once during the same stretch. 

CARDIAC CUBS
Missouri State has made a habit of eliminating leads over the last three seasons, and their recent home stand highlighted this trend. The Bears rallied for comeback wins in their first three games last week and have now totaled 68 come-from-behind victories since the start of the 2015 season. This year the Bears have rallied for nine wins after trailing. MSU has been good in close encounters as well, recording a 6-1 mark in one-run contests, including three walkoff wins at home.

With its 10-5 comeback victory over SEMO (March 20), MSU also improved to 6-0 following a loss. The Bears have hit .291 with seven of home runs in those six victories. Ben Whetstone has been particularly lethal in games following losses, batting .409 and slugging 1.000 with all four of his homers and seven RBIs. On the mound, Dylan Coleman has posted a pair of wins and a 2.57 ERA in such outings.

ROAD TO SUCCESS
MSU has proven to be hard to stop on the road over the past three seasons, logging a 56-32 (.636) record in such contests. Including their 20-6 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 76-38 (.667) away from Hammons Field since the start of the 2015 season. The Bears went 19-13 in true road games a year ago, after finishing with a program-record 21 wins in 27 road contests in 2015. MSU's 0.857 win percentage on the road represented their best since 1978, when they posted an identical percentage with a 12-2 road mark. 

COLEMAN TABBED FOR VALLEY HONOR
After turning in his fifth quality start of the season to help pave the way to Missouri State's series sweep of CSUN, Bears junior Dylan Coleman has been named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, the league office Monday. 

Coleman dominated the Matadors for seven of his career-best eight innings Friday, striking out 11 and allowing just two runs (one earned) on four singles to earn his 18th victory as a Bear. The Pototsi, Mo., native allowed just one baserunner through the first five innings—fanning eight batters in the process—then retired the final seven hitters he faced. His 11 strikeouts represented the fifth double-digit strikeout performance of his career and moved him into sole possession of ninth place on the Bears' career list.

Coleman became the third Bear to earn a Valley honor this spring, joining sophomore Drew Millas, who was named MVC Player of the Week following his breakout performance at the Keith LeClair Classic (March 5), and Jeremy Eierman, who earned the same honor last week.

OFF AND RUNNING
As part of their 16-6 start to the season, the Bears locked up their eighth-consecutive .500 or better month of February. Since the start of the 2011 season, Missouri State has gone a combined 43-15 (.741) in February, including a cumulative 28-8 (.778) mark over the last five seasons. 

MSU has been even better in the month of March, which has traditionally been the Bears' most successful month. MSU has gone 47-20 in March over the last four seasons and has logged 15 winning months of March since 2001. Overall, MSU has posted a .633 March winning percentage and finished .500 or better in the month 45 times in 54 years as a varsity program.

COLEMAN CLIMBING
Junior right-hander Dylan Coleman picked up his fourth mound victory of the season last Friday vs. CSUN, matching a career high with 8.0 innings and his second double-digit strikeout performance of the season (11) to claim the ninth position on MSU's career strikeout list (238). Coleman, who fanned an MVC-high 106 batters in 2016, needs five more K's to match the career total of Jon Harris (2013-15) in the No. 8 position, while Ross Detwiler sits in seventh with 244 career strikeouts.

Coleman also needs two more mound victories to crack the Bears' all-time top 10 list for that category. With 18 wins, he trails five different Bears — most recently Sam Perez (2013-16) — in the 10th spot with 20 victories.

BEARS ON RADIO
Once again in 2018, Meyer Communications is slated to provide live radio coverage of all 53 Missouri State regular-season games, plus all Bears' games in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and any 2018 postseason play. 

The broadcasts can be heard primarily on KBFL 1060 AM and 96.9 FM in Springfield with Art Hains, Ben Goss and Corey Riggs describing the action. An online audio stream is available through KBFL's website via RadioSpringfield.com.